Bachmann China 2008 releases announced

Excellent!

I plan on making a Chinese layout later in the year and thanks to Bachmann it will be a lot easier.
My fathers business has an office in China and last time I was out there I caught sight of a model railway shop in the taxi on the way to the airport!

I hope to return soon and see what delights it has.

What do you reckon my chances of getting anything bought there to run on OO are?!

Alex

QUOTE (Avionyx @ 1 May 2008, 03:45) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>What do you reckon my chances of getting anything bought there to run on OO are?!

Alex
Pretty high as HO and OO run on the same track.

I wonder if you get some Free Tibet protesters in the box?

If there are any posters I hope they are scale

I didn't realise that Chinese model railway ran in HO scale, I haven't done any research into it yet. Anyone got any good links?

Alex

QUOTE (dbclass50 @ 1 May 2008, 16:12) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi Alex,

Can't help you with any links but the main problem you will have with running Chinese HO models on an OO layout will be that the massive loading gauge may give you some clearance problems.

No probs - you just mount a mini-drill with a large circular saw on a wagon in front of the locomotive. that'll take care of any clearance problems as it goes round!!

QUOTE (SRman @ 1 May 2008, 10:39) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>No probs - you just mount a mini-drill with a large circular saw on a wagon in front of the locomotive. that'll take care of any clearance problems as it goes round!!
But will there be room for a decoder large enough to take the load ?

QUOTE (Avionyx @ 30 Apr 2008, 22:34) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>If there are any posters I hope they are scale

I didn't realise that Chinese model railway ran in HO scale, I haven't done any research into it yet. Anyone got any good links?

Alex

Here we go
One of the best model & prototype sites,
http://www.qj6639.com/

MGsharp, amongst others, sell it in the uk
http://www.mgsharp.com/Bachmann_Chinese.htm

Cracking photo site,
http://www.railography.co.uk/photos/china_m/index.htm

Good reference site,
http://www.railwaysofchina.com/site_map.htm

Canadian shop but good pics of the models.
http://www3.telus.net/ChinaRail/Models.html

He He!!! Its nice to see that the official sources get there in the end.

Only 2 months after the information was readily available!

http://www.modelrailforum.com/forums/index...?showtopic=4709

seriously though. the bachmann china range is fantastic. they do have a huge advantage over the UK in that being a comunist country there are a huge number of loco's from a relativly tiny nimber of classes. The JS is a huge addition to the range. the 3 main classes (QJ, SY and JS) are enough to cover the vast majority of chinese railways.

One thing i would say though is that the information comming from them is still very disorganised. I apreciate they its operated as a seperate company and Bachmann UK are mearly the importers, but it would be a whole lot easier if a simple memo was sent round to the various companies. so if lilliput issue a release then it is also passed to bachmann US and bachmann UK etc..

In the UK we are very luckey in that we can often see test shots in magazines and sometimes at shows. with bachmann china there is none of that. nobody seems to know if or when anything is going to happen untill all of a sudden Doug takes a picture at nuremburg showing a finished product for the DF7g!

I note that i now have 2 reliable sources saying 2 different things. interesting that there is no KF1 on this list. but if it was going to be released in the UK then it could well be kept out of the country untill bachmann UK had stuck it in their box and called it an NRM model.

also no CRH2 or SS4 on the official list.
But on the official list there is a noticible lack of a bang up to date loco which the CRH2 would cover and the SS4 would fit right in with their SS8. the CRH2 could also be sold in japan as the E2 shinkansen.) there simply has to be a modern loco. there is none of this nostalga that we get in the UK. people want the latest and most sleek and glossy train because its fasionable to have the latest one. give just about any chinese person the choice between a stirling single and a class 66 and i bet 90% would choose the 66.

On this occasion i am inclined to believe Peter Haworth's site over the official bachmann line.

With regard to the loading gauge, its worth noting that the chinese loading gauge is smaller than the US loading gauge. the loco's turn out about the same loading gauge as UK OO. but are conciderably longer.

Peter

QUOTE (Dennis David @ 13 May 2008, 04:10) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>What's a loading gauge?

The gauge on a weighbridge?

Oh I see Americans don't bother with them.......................

Regards

The loading gauge is basically the size of the train. or to be more precise it is the maximum size a piece of rolling stock can be before hitting the bridges and tunnels.

For example the UK has a very small loading gauge and the americans have a very large loading gauge. thats why when you put a brittish loco and an american loco side by side they will be a diferent size.

Chinese railway history is a bit of a mess with the russians and the japanese and the brittish all having a go with some american imports thrown in for good measure and some war to mix the whole thing up.

Generally the loading gauge is about the same as russia. its quite a bit smaller than the US loading gauge. but still massive by UK standards.

For modelling purpouses the loading gauge of a chinese HO model is about the same as a brittish OO model. but the chinese stock is quite a bit longer so extra clearence is needed around corners.

Peter

P.S. the trains with the biggest loading gauge in the world are right on our own doorstep going between Folkstone and Calais.

Congratulations Peter,

while we are on the subject of Bachmann Chinese locos, does anyone know what sort of sound the various Diesels make?
I fitted a Tsunami Heavy steam chip in my QJ as it has the option of whistles and an airhorn off the Southern Pacific GS4's and I'm considering if it's possible to squeeze an ESU chip in the diesels as there are a variety of US and UK diesel sound chips I reckon one must be similar.

Thankyou to all of you for the good wishes.

There are decoders available for the chinese diesels and steam loco's.

They are made by DXDC and available from several plaves. their website is
http://www.anemodel.com/Dxdc.html
They also do a sound decoder for the QJ but i cant find any reference to it on their site.

the 5302 covers DF7G, NJ2, DF1/3, DF4B

I actually quite fancy putting decoders in my QJ's.

Peter